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UTMB to cut up to 1,000 positions

June 22, 2006

Houston Business Journal (Internet / Print) 06/22/06 http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/06/19/daily21.html The University of Texas Medical Branch plans to eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs through attrition and layoffs by Sept. 1 in an effort to get its financial house in order. With 13,000 employees, the Galveston-based institution is the largest employer in the area. The staff reductions are part of an overall fiscal strategy being implemented by UTMB at the advice of a Chicago-based Navigant Consulting Inc. (NYSE:NCI), a private consultant hired by the university to examine internal operations. The yet-to-be-adopted plan could mean that between 800 and 1,000 positions will be eliminated -- some through layoffs and others through attrition. Exact numbers have yet to be determined. Details of the reduction strategy must gain approval by UTMB officials, but the cost reductions are expected to affect every aspect of the operation. "It will involve employees at every level," says UTMB spokeswoman Chris Comer. UTMB currently operates on a $1.4 billion budget. (This article has appeared throughout the bizjournals network in cities around the United States.)